Space Shuttle Discovery Lifts Off from Florida

Orlando (dbTechno) - At 5:02pm today, May 31, 2008, the Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The timing was perfect and it was a beautiful day to launch. The time was at the beginning of a 5 minute window in which they could launch the first of a three part assembly to the International Space Station called “Kibo”. The $1 billion module is the biggest “room” that will update the International Space Station and will eventually include an open concept part of the station that will serve as a “back-porch” for the astronauts to conduct experiments on the atmosphere in space.

The crew members for this mission are: Cmdr Kelly of the Navy, the pilot is Cmdr. Kenneth T. Ham also of the Navy. Michael E. Fossum of the Air Force Reserve who will be making his second trip into space. The crew will be bringing an additional piece of equipment into space that was added at the last minute, they will be bringing all of the necessary tools to replace the toilet in the ISS, which began malfunctioning last month. The shuttle is expected to meet up with the ISS on Monday.